Autogas help newsletter
As I come across new problems and fixes I will add them here,
some will be common occurance, others are a little more bazzar!
electronic flash lube ------
Mitsubishi GDi
The one that can’t be done!!!
Over the years I have had many enquiries about the Mitsubishi GDi engines and autogas. I must admit if you look at the list of vehicles that have been fitted with the GDi engines its little wonder, there’s a lot of them out there.
The big manufactures of LPG systems are working on direct injection systems, but it would seem that the GDi is not to be included. You can see why, they are going to concentrate on the latest, newest vehicles, to receive the most longevity from there systems.
So, why are direct injection engines so different to convert from any other engines?
Well the answer is quite simple. A direct injection engine has the petrol injectors fitted directly into the cylinder chamber of the engine, rather than in the inlet manifold. This is mainly done to reduce emissions and also to improve MPG. There are lots of articles out there to explain why this is, such as
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_GDI
So I wont bore you with it here!
The main problem is that if you convert the engine to run on LPG, there is no longer petrol running through the petrol injectors. This causes the injector to over heat and eventually, the tip melts and the injector stops working. The answer would be to still inject a small amount of petrol through the petrol injectors to stop them over heating, whilst mostly running on LPG.
Sounds simple enough but if it was that easy everyone one be doing it right!!? Well yes, they would and no it isn’t that simple, mainly because the petrol system works at some ridiculously high voltages and pressures. Which does complicate things somewhat!
Any way, some month’s back I purchased a Mitsubishi Space wagon with a 2.3ltr GDi engine as a project vehicle and after much scratching of heads, much gathering of information and readings. Then doing the whole lot again with electrical engineers, I think we are almost there.
September this year should see the beginning of the road tests.
So I will keep you updated from here on in!
Watch this space :-)
Just a quick note about software
It looks likely that most of the AEB based software will be available soon as a no-dongle download. For those of you that havnt seen the dongle or 'subkey' expanded software, this is the extra bit of kit that us installers paid lots of money for to open up the basic software and increase the options. The main advantage is the Map page, which gives a full page fuel map. I for one find it difficult to set a car up correctly with out this option. But that could be because thats what I use most!
Any way, it looks very lickely that the dongle will not be required in the not to distant, giving every one almost full access to complete software. (I say almost as there are still a few options that can only be found with the dongle, but they are very specialist, and as such are not often used.)
Whats next?
My prediction for software is that it will, in time, include a fault code reader for the cars OBD system. We already have fuel trim availabe on the screen, (see below) so its a small jump from that to fault codes and freeze frame data. Im sure the guys at AEB are working on it already!!
Latest product upgrade on bigas sequential,
Its here at last, the moment that the LPG trade has been waiting for since the introduction of sequential LPG kits.
The wire of desire!! not its official name of course but thats the nickname we have given it! This simply to fit addition to the already highly advanced Bigas ECU means check light problems and incorrect tunning will become a thing of the past for most vehicles!
How does it work?
How does it work I hear you cry! Well maybe not but Im going to tell you anyway!
The latest ECU has the ability to read the cars fuel trim and constantly adjust the gas injection timing to ensure that the mixture never swings out of trim, it uses the same technoloy that the cars ECU uses when adjusting the petrol timing, In otherwords it is real time data, constantly adjusting the fueling which means that the mixture will always be spot on!!
Doe's it work?
Yes! I have just fitted one of these systems to a supercharged Range Rover (4.2 V8 400Bhp) which are buggers for check light and tunning problems and have given many installers a hard time. But I can say hand on heart that it is perfect! The vehicle has been used for over a month now and covered a couple of thousand miles with no issues at all, no check lights no missfires nothing!
Will it work on my vehicle?
It does depend on the type of on board diagnostics (OBD) that your vehicle is fitted with, You need a code reader that tells you the connection type of the vehicle,
ie 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ect Currently connection types 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9 are ok but 4, 5, & 6 should follow shortly. The other problem is for already converted vehicles. The upgrade requires a new ECU, stamped on the back as type D, so its not something you can just add to an existing system, but its great for new conversions.
How hard to install?
It isn't ! Thats the best bit, but you do need the right equipment, you need to be able to check the connection type of the vehicle, then you check the bigas instructions to see which pin of the OBD socket you need to connect to and which pin of the Bigas ECU.
Then you switch on the adaptivity using the software. If you have a subkey (or dongle) you will be able to see the fast and slow fuel trim on the map page, which is great for on road checking. If you haven't got a dongle, you will still be able to see the correction figure at the bottom of the gas-petrol page, this figure shows you how much the ecu is adjusting the trim by.
If you would like more detail on this upgrade drop me an email and I will send somthing across, Mick
Jeep 4.0ltr thumping gearbox! (Also juddering Kia!)
I have just spent an hour being driven around in the sunshine in a 2002 jeep grand cherokee which was converted by a installer last november. The instalation was first class and the vehicle drives great, which was nice to see as the installer had recieved some trainning from yours trully a couple of years ago. However ther was a problem, accelarating up to 2000 revs and then letting of the throttle so that the vehicle dropped into top gear (overdrive) resulted in a thump from the auto gear box. Not every time, and it was worse if you were heading up hill, but quite often.
Its a problem that i have come across before, its always the 4.0lt engine but its not every one of them., I have lost count of how many 4.0ltr jeeps ive converted on both single point and multipoint and this is only the second time ive known this problem.
The owner had been asked to contact me as the installer had drawn a blank on fixing this odd ball problem.
This was the second time I had looked at this vehicle, first time I had appeard to fix the problem by very fine adjustments on the gas map ( this is what had cured the other jeep with the same problem) and the owner had gone away happy, but the problem had reoccurred a few days later. So we set out again to try and fine tune it further.
I had mentioned the problem to Richard at Tinley tech, who I new had come across the same problem before, he said the same as I thought, fine adjustment of the map. However after about 45minutes of driving up and down, I had made little progress!
By chance Richard called on the mobile at this point to disscuss an unrelated matter and I told him what I was doing. A few minutes later he called back with a suggestion. " Have you ever tried anticipating the injection sequence ?"
I had to admit that I hadnt and said it was worth a try.
To do this you need to have the car running on petrol at idle and then tick the check box at the top of the the gas-petrol page, this steps the injector firing order forward by one pulse and was the answer to the problem!
I have used this function in the past on some Kia cars that suffer a serious juddering when cruising at low steeds in a high gear. It sorts the problem completely and the car drives normaly, so well worth remembering!
I have looked at the new flash lube kit and it is very well made. There are obvious advantages to using this with a turbo or supercharged engine and the level indicator has to be progress! The amount of time I lift the bonnet of a LPG vehicle to find an empty flash lube container is unreal!
However, it is ofcourse quite a bit more money than the early system so I dont think we will be seeing the end of that just yet. That said, I wouldnt want to try and make one for the same price!
Verdict,
If you run a turbo or supercharged engine, then this is the kit for you. Or if you like your gadgets, then go for it!!
Update
These havn't had the best of starts, with the early systems showing tempremental problems. Most have been sorted and the new - new ones do seem to be better. However my advice would be, if you dont need the electronic system dont fit it! Its only realy needed on supercharged or high blow turbo engines. The best thing about these is the low level light, the amount of bonnets I lift to find a empty flash lube bottle is amazing! See below for a new alternative!
This is a new vacume valve saver kit, with some advantages over the Flash Lube kit. For one thing the bottle looks a lot better than the round drinks bottle that comes with a flash lube kit. Also it has a low level indcator light that can be fitted in the dash board. "Just like the electronic flash lube kit" I hear tou say! Yes but this isnt electronic, its a normal vacume kit. So a lot less to go wrong with it, simple to fit, looks the part and does the job! I have heard that the fluid is made by some guys who worked at flash lube, but with some more modern ingedients, so should work just as well, if not better.
There is also a option to use a manifold or splitter for those vehicles that are real bad for valve seat reccesion.
Click here to ask a question
Announcements